A Lonely Christmas
by isajade
Summary: Emily and Reid meet by chance in the park and build a snowman together on Christmas day. Friendship fic but could be romance


As much as she hated to admit it, Emily Prentiss was lonely. It was Christmas day, and she was sitting alone in her apartment. As she took a sip of coffee, she remembered the previous evening.

"I don't want to see any of you in the office tomorrow or the next day," Hotch said sternly. Despite his tough exterior, Emily knew he couldn't wait to get home to celebrate Christmas eve with his son and girlfriend. She watched as JJ stuffed her case files in her handbag and folded her coat over her arm, walking briskly to the elevator. Normally Emily would be as excited as the rest of them to get home, but today she didn't want to return to her empty apartment. She pretended to be busy with paperwork, which didn't work as she'd hoped it would. Morgan and Reid walked by her desk on their way to the elevator and Morgan called out,

"Come on Emily, paperwork can wait. It's time to go." Emily stood, shouldering her purse and walking alongside them. They stood in silence as the elevator descended to the floor level. Emily wrapped her trench cost tightly around her as an icy wind danced through her hair.

"Bye guys, have a great Christmas," she said as she climbed in her car and dropped her purse on the passenger seat. She reversed her car and drove home slowly, stopping to pick up a box of chocolates and a new book she'd been wanting to read. "It's Christmas eve, I might as well indulge," she thought bitterly. Emily spent the rest of the evening reading and watching classic Christmas movies. She drifted off to sleep thinking about the children who were wide awake with excitement, waiting for Santa to come.

Emily took another gulp of coffee and contemplated whether she should get up to plug in the Christmas tree lights. After a few minutes she arose and shuffled over to the tree in her fuzzy white slippers. She plugged the cord into its socket and marveled at its beauty. As a child, she'd loved decorating the Christmas tree. She wished that she could share the beauty with her family, but her mother was hosting an event and couldn't be bothered by her only daughter. Outside, snow danced and swirled through the frosty air. Emily was hit by a childish urge to run outside and jump around in the snow. She pulled on her ski cap and gloves, and walked down the stairs of her apartment building. She stepped outside and was hit by a gusty, snowy wind. Squinting, she walked down the sidewalk until she reached the park. It was only a few blocks away from her apartment building, and she went there sometimes to just get away from her demanding lifestyle. Emily walked along the park path and stopped at an area where the snow was particularly deep. She dropped to her knees and scooped up a pile of snow, molding it into a ball shape. But making a snowman is harder than it looks, and soon she had managed to get snow inside her boots, jacket, and even her jeans! She has just stood up to begin molding the second ball of snow when someone said,

"Emily? Is that you?" Emily turned around and saw Reid standing on the path, squinting at her through the thick snow.

"Hey Reid, I was just..." she motioned towards the clump of snow, "...building a snowman."

"Can I help?" Reid asked, a hopeful look in his timid brown eyes.

"Sure," Emily smiled. They worked in silence for a few minutes until Emily asked, "So you aren't visiting your mother this Christmas?" Reid shook his head but didn't elaborate, and Emily didn't push it. "Me either," she said softly. Reid stepped back to examine the snowman and said critically,

"The difference of the diameters of the bottom ball and middle ball is greater than the difference of the diameters of the top ball and middle ball." As he fixed the bottom ball, Emily stuck twigs in the sides of the snowman and put her gloves on them. She removed her hat and placed it on his icy head. Emily took advantage of the fact that Reid was kneeling and grabbed his purple scarf, winding it around the snowman's neck. "Hey!" Reid protested, but she knew he didn't mind. As they strolled along the park path, Emily thought that maybe Christmas didn't have to be so lonely.


End file.
